Why I would never recuit a priest smith.

[AreaOfEffect]

I'm somewhat of a fan of the MA Ulm faction to be honest. I have my own personal strategy that seems to work for me. Above all I don't want to sound like I'm not grateful for the additional love you've decided to give to MA Ulm. I am grateful. Having our own custom level 1 Holy priest is a welcome change and I might even recruit a Black Priest... maybe.

My largest contention is with the Priest Smith. I find I can't bring myself to hire even one of them. The fact that he is a poor leader and that he is magically weaker means that, for me, the master smith is a better choice for both at home and on the road.

I wouldn't hire one to stay at home because, to me, the most important quality of any smith is magic levels. The potential for an additional earth level, or a level in air or astral is much more important to me. The fact that the chance of that happening is so low means I need to be hiring a master smith as often as I can.

I wouldn't hire one for the road because it would induce commander fatigue. The fact that it is a poor leader means that in order for it to lead an army of reasonable size, I need to pair him up with some other commander. Also, again, magic levels rule. I would rather a smith capable of casting "Rain of Stones" then I would a smith who can bless himself. Besides, if I want reinvigoration I would rather cast "Summon Earth Power".

I could continue, but the real point is that there is just too much overlap. If the point was to boost the viability of Ulm, I think it would be best done by adding a more unique unit rather then a variant, even if that unit is not as powerful. That's my take, I could be wrong.

[Twan]

Summon earthpower + chain Iron darts (or blizzard later) ?

Also master smiths aren't capitol only. You may recruit them in other forts and make one priest smith each turn (costing half upkeep) in the capitol.

[llamabeast]

Iron blizzard? Have you seen it? It's vicious.

[Edi]

Chalk up another person does not seem to have taken a look at anything beyond the blindingly obvious. The Iron Darts and Iron Blizzard are murderous with earth power and Priest Smith = Master Smith combat-wise except for the rare few.

The biggest beta group concern about Priest Smiths was that they are currently too good compared to the master smith for research (drain immune and less upkeep due to sacreed) and together with the combat aspect they'd eclipse the master smith.

[llamabeast]

Well they're capital only so not much danger of eclipsing the master smith. I played a SP game of MA Ulm the other day though, and only recruited priest smiths in the capital. I wanted some Iron Blizzard action!

[lch]

Why don't you rephrase that title to add emphasis: "Why priest smiths will NEVER GET RECRUITED!"

[Sir_Dr_D]

Priest smiths are sacred, and cost less upkeep. Nations with sacred researchers have a huge advantage.

[Tuidjy]

1. He is sacred, his upkeep is halved.
2. You can recruit the standard smith everywhere else, you'll get enough randoms.
3. He can be blessed for fatigue reduction.
4. He can be used for the new evocation spells.
5. He has an awesome hairdo.

I'm in the middle of a MP game (Man/Ulm/Caelum) and Ulm has been significantly
improved. I have been recruiting exclusively holy smiths at the capital, and
the reduced upkeep has allowed me to make more castles. As soon as Man finally
submits his turn, I will see how Iron Blizard works.

But despite all my castles, I still wish there was some medium infantry that
would not cost so damn much in resources, and that I could force march to the
front lines. The lightning bolts do not care for armour, and my casualties are high.

[AreaOfEffect]

My apologies. It appears that the priest smith has one boon I failed to notice. The new spells indeed make them more unique. That combined with there cheaper upkeep would entice me to buy a few. However, for my approach to Ulm, an earth bless isn't a priority and the random magic levels are.

[thejeff]

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about a bless.

The general strategy with Ulm involves building a lot of castles to recruit Smiths and so your slow troops can be build nearer the front. So if you're recruiting 5-6 mages a turn fairly early on, one less chance at a random isn't a big deal.